Overwhelming Kindness
by Over Worked Witch
Summary: Lauren finds herself with an unlikely, unwanted, coworker when the sarcastic Bo McCorrigan is assigned to the ER. Despite forming easy friendships with the staff, Lauren is not as easily won over. When months of distance of distrust come crashing down in a simple act of kindness, Lauren has to deal with a new problem as feelings of hostility are replaced with an intense attraction.
1. Chapter 1

At a time when her life was spiraling out of her control Lauren found herself very grateful for the moments she had to herself at an empty nurses' station. Through centrally divided time slots of worrying about keeping the department stable and caring for the masses that did not seem to understand using their heads to break their fall will lead to stitches no matter how insistent they are about being fine, there wasn't much time for anything else. The week was just getting started and already it was showing signs of just being one of those that made her consider starting the weekend early by taking a few of those vacations days off. It was so tempting but the obvious argument against it was that come next Monday the problems of the week would be there, waiting, along with another week's worth problems.

A stolen glance towards the artificial light of the lobby had long turned into an obsessive stare as the doctor examined every detail of the color that stood out as such a stark contrast to the pitch-black night that was threatening to sneak past the glass walls. It was a no doubt strange thing to do but a thought had taken hold that would not release from her mind. The world around her was always bright because the lights never turned off. That was all that stopped the darkness from sweeping the hospital and consuming her, a false light that she had left on but that would eventually give out.

That was what Lauren feared. At any moment during the night someone could simply turn off the lights and she would be lost in the dark, swept away from everything as she became fully engulfed by it all until there was no way to separate the woman from the void. The very person that she was would be negated by the complete eclipse and the woman would be left blind to the world around her, left to the whims of her environment with no control over where she would end up as she moved through it. She could see it approaching; she could see the day that turned into a night so dark where even the torches would not burn through it and she felt herself slip into the darkness.

Little bits of light begun to return and soon the subtle noise of privacy curtains drawn and monitors filled the Lauren's head, which began to feel every sound as a painful vibration. After a few attempts resulting in sheer agonizing torments, the woman finally got a look at her surroundings without the light torturing her senses. She was in the ER, still near the nurses' station, but she was no longer on her feet and given the sudden pain in her back the change in position had not been intentional.

Not wanting for someone to find her lying on the hospital floor, the doctor was about to sit up when a rather loud noise made her shut her eyes again and hope that whatever the sound was it would go away. Instead, the noise came again, louder, and too close to the woman's ringing ears to come from a distant patient or departing nurse. It took a few seconds for Lauren to realize someone was talking to her.

A few blinks confirmed that whoever it was they were not in front of her but as she went to turn her head a pair of hands were suddenly holding it in place. The grip confirmed a presence but she had no conformation of who would get to ridicule her for passing out in her own emergency room. Someone asking her to stay still before they stuck a light in her eyes was a not a pleasant experience and, despite the value of the test for medical conformation of injuries, Lauren really just wanted to get to her feet and find the nearest bottle of aspirin.

As the particularly obnoxious light went away, and the annoyingly bright emergency room came back into focus, she felt a hand on the side of her head again. This time it moved down to her neck for a few seconds before both hands lifted her head slightly before being placing it back down on something that was far softer than the cold tile. Lauren knew the event likely only took a few seconds but suddenly it felt like an eternity had passed of laying there why someone kept their hand on her neck, which she suddenly hoped was as far as the hand was going to go. There was no chance of actually being able to see whoever was behind her and trying to find them by moving her eyes backwards only made her head spin.

Almost on cue, the person behind her moved to her side and picked up her arm before fingers pressed against her radial artery. Rather hoping the person would be satisfied with those two measurements of her heart rate, and not pursue a full medical exam why she was laying on the floor, Lauren finally got a look on the person manhandling her. The persistent examiner was wearing a simple black shirt came to rest just at the top of dark pants with no medical coat in sight. She could not figure why some random passerby would go through the basic steps in checking for head trauma instead of yelling for a doctor.

With the world slowly starting to come into focus, still not a place that seemed to make much sense, she noted the clothes covering the woman's frame seemed familiar and looked towards the long brown hair that covered a face of someone still counting her pulse added to the familiarity. Each second that ticked by brought less pain and more clarity to the woman's temporarily oxygen starved brain and suddenly she realized the mystery woman was her latest hiring. Well hiring was a strong word, technically Doctor McCorrigan now worked in the ER because Hale had placed her there without caring if she wanted to hire the woman or not.

Most of the time it was not hard not to notice Doctor McCorrigan based entirely off her attire. There were few doctors that did not come to work in a full suit, or end up spending all but ten minutes a day dressed in scrubs, yet the v-neck shirt and leather pants with the white lab coat that was now missing never seemed out-of-place.

"Doctor Lewis, what happened?" Bo had known from an early age that being a doctor was going to lead to her seeing some strange things, but a passed out department head wasn't one of the sights she had expected in the slightest.

Lauren did her best to straighten up and look like she had not been staring into an empty lobby, blacked out and then started staring at the other doctor in a span of what was probably less than a minute if the clock on the wall was believable.

"Can you hear me? Are you alright?" There wasn't any blood, and pupil reaction had been in a safe range, but Bo felt panic start to build as the woman didn't respond to her questions.

"I am fine Doctor McCorrigan." It was a rude reaction to have but the fallen doctor felt surprised about the concern she could hear coming from the new hiring about her well-being. After all the slightly younger woman was a doctor and one that had shown far more interest in the wellbeing of patients than a lot of the white coats that ended up in the ER instead of a more specialized department. Yet she did not trust her, not in the way she trusted her other colleagues. There was just something different about the woman, something that bothered her. She treated patients better than many other doctors did. They sick and injured all able to face the world after an encounter with the young doctor. Yet the effort was casual, almost fleeting, and certainly did not match that shielding touch that Lewis made sure to place on all of her patients.

"I just had a few more reports to file before I headed home." Realizing that verbal communication was a good way to rule out severe head trauma Lewis tried to think of what else to say sounded half away intelligent at the moment because 'I slipped' was not going to get her out of this situation any faster. To her surprise the brown eyes of the other looked straight into her own as she felt her arm touching the cool tile again.

"So you decided the best way to celebrate putting your signature on the forms was to pass out in the ER?" Bo was no stranger to the cold responses of her boss that seemed like a constant reaction to her presence. In fact it was rather pleasant at the moment as the woman's words were clear and precise, reducing the likelihood that she had suffered a concussion.

Lauren was not actually sure how her luck was so bad that she could manage to completely fail at stopping herself from hitting the floor and somehow end up as the informal patient of the second most sarcastic doctor to work there, all after midnight and in her own department. Sure, she had spoken to Doctor McCorrigan before but discussing possible treatments on a few cases, a bit of occasional small talk why in the cafeteria and assigning the woman patients were not exactly friendly chats that left with them with plenty to discuss later on. Still recognizing that seemingly patented sarcasm that Doctor McCorrigan spoke to everyone with was something Lauren felt surprisingly comforted by it. After all, she would not be able to separate the sarcastic nature of the question if she had suffered major trauma from the fall.

"It is an emergency room Doctor McCorrigan; people generally only show up here when they are losing consciousness and it is not usually a pleasant experience for anyone." The new doctor's reaction was almost instantaneous as her eyebrows raised in surprise before a small smirk came across the woman's lips. Obviously, the woman had not entirely considered just whom she was talking to before speaking. Lauren Lewis had earned her role as head of a department after years of being overlooked by her superiors why putting up with years of her best friend's sarcastic, albeit teasing, abuse. A single remark from the elusive Bo was not going to disrupt her thoughts, although it did seem to linger among them.

"Now I think we can both agree that the floor is no place for an examination or conversation. If you don't mind I would appreciate it if you moved so I could get to my feet before someone from legal rushes down here with some waiver of liability forms they want me to sign." Lauren assumed she was free to go when the brunette stepped away from her side but found she was staring again as the other woman suddenly put one leg over to her other side creating a position where the brunette was standing over her. Whatever was happening was lost on the blonde as she became fixated on the brown eyes before the woman suddenly, and literally, snapped her out of the trance. The sound of a finger snapping at her, twice none of the less, brought her eyes to the hands that had previously examined her that were now being extended down towards her. She did not appreciate having someone snap at her but accepted the help up all the same.

Slowly pulled to her feet by slender fingers wrapped tightly around her wrists Lauren got back to her feet, feeling slightly dizzy from the change but well enough to free herself from Doctor McCorrigan's grip. Fixing her scrubs with one hand and keeping the other firmly on the counter as her rescuer calmly walked passed her and picked up a haphazardly folded lab coat from the tile floor. She could only watched as the mystery that was Bo moved towards a vacant part of the hospital without a word.

The ER doctor considered her choices, as she knew the other woman would be taking the coat that just moments ago kindly placed behind her head to its resting place within a locker before heading home. If she followed her, or remained at the station, there would be no doubt she would be able to thank Doctor McCorrigan for her help but if she returned to her office they would miss each other entirely. Realizing it was not really much of a choice, Lauren grabbed the files that had caused her recent troubles and headed off.

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**After about six months between stories for my beloved doccubus pairing, I started on this over the weekend and amazing enough isn't a one shot! It's a bit different from my usual style of writing, but I've got some other doccubus stuff in the works and I wanted to do something different with this one. Hope it was an enjoyable read and look for updates fairly regularly as most of the chapters on this are already written. **


	2. Chapter 2

Having patched up the third broken bone from the half-dozen participants of a bar fight Bo took off her gloves, for what was hopefully the last time of her extended shift, and threw them away. With the wrist set and the man now a pharmacy visit away from getting the painkillers that would not do anything to stop his stupidity, she was finally finished - albeit an hour after she was due to go home. How these men, each of whose closets were probably full of the same high-end suits, who probably worked in similar offices doing similar tasks all within a few blocks of each other, had decided they hated each other enough to settle their problems was by running their faces into each other's fists she couldn't understand.

Why the brunette never been one to deny herself the pain and pleasure of life, she had never felt the urge to actually get into a bar room brawl. The whole thing seemed contradictory to why she went into an establishment overflowing with men, women, alcohol and enough drugs to make sure she couldn't remember her own name for three days, let alone anything else. That would be exactly what she was intending to do with the next few days off had it not been that bad habit that forced her to move in the first place.

These days she was all about she was living a life of sobering reality that had replaced those vices with the ideas of monogamy, vitamins and health drinks. In fact they had done such a good job of taking over for past vices that the doctor was lacking any particular enthusiasm towards them. Had she really burnt out on life before she was 32?

No, it was just the end of a rather long week with a patient whose very existence seemed to prove that Neanderthals were still very much present in modern society. A couple of beers, some time with the latest bad horror movies on Netflix and 12 hours of sleep, would help her forget all about that idiot. After that she could get on with the rest of her weekend. Of course, what she really wanted to do was turn around and add a broken jaw to the list of things he needed treatment for at the hospital but going home seemed like a better way to keep her job. If she still had the urge to track the idiot down and put him back in the hospital, or do anything else reckless, she could always trying taking up base jumping. "Stupid jackass."

"Get another patient that couldn't keep his hands to himself Doctor McCorrigan?" Lauren had heard the woman stomping about and huffing, but had intended to remain silent before the verbal remark.

There was no doubt that the voice belonged to the head of the ER but what Bo couldn't figure out is where it was coming from as the blonde was not behind her. The slightlyout of place, partly closed privacy curtain, did offer a seemingly intelligent place to check as the rest of the ER looked empty. Sure enough there was Doctor 'People just need other people to love them' Lewis finishing up a chart near what had obviously been attached to a recently occupied bed. "No, he was too busy poking his nose to see if it needed plastic surgery." The ER was where people who literally could not screw a light bulb without hurting themselves ended up all day, yet she had never seen the other woman show any outward sign of frustration with them.

The woman in pink scrubs looked up from the chart she was previously invested in to offer a quick smile before a more confused look distorted her features. "Then what did he do to get qualified under the jackass category?"

"That idiot put himself and five other people in the ER all because of some guy knocked into him. Apparently, it was too suggestive for him to brush off as a drunken accident where the other guy simply stumbled and grabbed the nearest person to prevent himself from falling. Doctors have better things to do than cast and stitch up drunken idiots that feel their reputation was somehow insulted by a different idiot mistaking them for a support beam." Normally could sympathize with the situation, at least on paper. No one likes the feeling of some drunk grouping them in some bar, by accident or otherwise, but it happens and countless people are able to move on with their lives without the matter ending up in a hospital.

"If people like that had to suffer through the pain of their actions than maybe they would learn to stop hitting each other and wasting resources that could go to patients that deserve it." It wasn't personal really, but the idiot's presence was simply a reminder that there are people out there who would get a chance to spend the next several decades of their life as hateful bastards but still get to see their family grow, society progress and the world change yet a child who wanted to rescue unicorns wouldn't make it through tomorrow.

"Ah. Unfortunately, I doubt depriving him, or anyone else, of medication would do anything to change their outlook on life. Might actually make them act out against other people more often." Lauren understood the frustration, but keeping someone in pain, even if they brought it on themselves, seemed like the wrong way to prove a point.

"Right well I am going home before someone shows up with another fascinating tale of how it is not their fault they crashed their car. I'm one short of my daily tree appearing out of nowhere average and I would rather not chance ruining that milestone by waiting around." After heading off to the locker room Bo only needed to take a few steps before it was rather obvious that the other woman was following behind her. It was at a respectable distance yet still had that killer in a bad horror movie feel about it. The trip was short but it seemed to last a lot longer when listening to two sets of feet wandering down the hall, particularly when they fell into sync with each other half way there.

Bo walked over to her locker and intended to leave as quickly as possible when that voice popped up again.

"Thank you for the other night. I should have said something right after it happened or at the very least made an effort to thank you sooner than this." The comment left her lips surprisingly easy for all the concern she had over bringing up the incident at all. It was obviously stupid to worry that the brunette was suddenly going to tell everyone that she was a liability to the hospital, but Lauren also knew that the rules made it clear the brunette should do exactly that.

The blonde had apparently left the chart somewhere along the way and was now standing just into the locker room with perfect posture. Bo had noticed that ever since the incident the woman had seemed more uptight than usual, almost as if relaxing for a moment might just kill someone. That would not do. This woman had followed her through the hospital to offer words that were obviously giving her difficulty; she shouldn't be allowed to get through it as if Bo had just picked up a dropped file for her.

Besides if there was one thing Bo knew how to do it was how to make women lose their self-control. It had been a while since she had put into practice, despite Dyson's accusations, and it was not like she had ever failed to meet a goal, no matter how rusty she was at getting to it. Besides there couldn't be any harm if she did it just to get a reaction out the other doctor.

"It was no problem, really. Besides you are not the first woman I had to help off the floor after she just could not stand up any longer." The brunette offered a brief smile to the blonde before setting to the task of opening her locker. In actuality the coat did need to be put away but Bo was also wanted more time as the first comment did not seem to faze the posed doctor in the slightest.

"Well I appreciate it all the same Doctor McCorrigan. Most of the staff gossips so much that I have little doubt that word of what happened would have avoided Hale's ears for long and if knew he about he would have made me stay home for the rest of the week." Bo was not known for being a particularly reserved person, at least as far as Lauren could tell, and she was thankful the woman had decided to make exception about potential work place incidents.

"There was nothing to say Doctor Lewis. However, for future reference I generally prefer to keep my encounters involving other women suddenly going unconscious in a more private setting. So let's try to not make a habit out of it in the ER." It took a few seconds but the younger doctor got the reaction she was waiting for. It was not much of anything and it was gone as quickly as it arrived, but for one instant Lauren's two hands came together to sooth the bottom center of the already flat scrub top the woman was wearing.

That was the sign that Bo had won, she had cracked the woman who had obviously no intention of showing her true form to the brunette. Yet she needed just a bit more from Miss Perfect before she could let her go. Sliding off the coat and hanging it up, she retrieved the prescription pad and pen once more. A quick flurry of writing and the tearing of paper from the pad was all she needed before the brunette extended out a piece of paper towards her colleague. "My cell number. Be sure to use it the next time you start feeling like you are going to pass out. We wouldn't want you hurting yourself."

Lauren understood the woman might have some concerns over her badass image being put at risk by their encounter in the ER, Lauren was not entirely sure though what to make about the rest of the comment. The brunette did not seem to shy from conversation about her attraction to other women but there was a certain implication in those words that made the blonde feel nervous again. It was obviously just a joke that she should have laughed and smiled at before walking away satisfied that Bo clearly had no real interest in what happened. Yet there she was fiddling with her shirt like an idiot over a simple sarcastic comment as if she had not heard far worse from Kenzi over the years.

Grateful that Bo seemed occupied with her lab coat and not waiting for an actual response of some sort Lauren set her mind to thanking the woman once more before trying for a graceful exit. When a prescription paper with what her brain caught on was Bo's phone number written on it was extended to her it seemed reasonable enough to accept the considerate gesture and continue forward with the plan.

Lauren stepped forward trying to convince herself it was the gesture that the other doctor felt comfortable enough to offer the personal information that was suddenly causing the smile that was plastered all over her face. After all it could not be that she was suddenly excited to be getting the woman's phone number, which could lead to further contact between the two of them. When she went to retrieve the piece of improperly used hospital paper Lauren suddenly felt concerned again. The grip on the other side tightened instead of releasing and Bo was suddenly a lot closer than necessary.

The blonde seemed to take the steps toward her easy enough, even offering a kind smile regarding the oh so very thoughtful offer. However as soon as her hand was on the paper Bo took a step closer and leaned forward. "I like to stay on top of these sorts of things."

Seeing those eyes stare right at her for what felt like an eternity, yet break away in a moment that was over far too quickly, Lauren realized that was the second time in less than a week she had trouble remembering what had happened before they crossed paths.

With smirk, and remaining within Lauren's personal space for a few seconds, Bo finally stepped away, putting the pad of paper and pen back into a coat pocket and gently shutting the locker door. Giving the poor woman a quick smile the brunette walked past her without another word.

Lauren on the other hand was just stuck where the other woman had left her standing after what had been such a simple turn of events. She had no explanation for why she suddenly felt unable to move her feet from the floor. It was just a prescription paper with digits on it; it shouldn't have been anything important but they, along with the woman who wrote them, intrigued her far more than she was comfortable with.

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**Wow. The response to this has been incredible and I really do appreciate all the support. I will try to keep the updates happening every few days and there will be plenty of doccubus in each chapter. **


	3. Chapter 3

On a chilly Sunday morning Bo was a mile from her destination at the end of her run when the cell phone started going off. A quick glance showed a local area code attached to a string of numbers that she did not know and thus on silent it went to ring until the caller got her voicemail. Either they would find it important enough to leave a message or would get the hint that after six rings she wasn't going to answer.

Resuming her run towards the apartment complex she had called home for the last several months it would just be a few more minutes of peace before she had to start facing the end of her weekend and she really did not want to spend any of them on the phone. Unfortunately, that literally seemed like all the peace Bo had earned that morning as not fifteen minutes later Bo was feet mere steps from the entryway to her building when the cell phone went off again.

She wasn't entirely sure but the number looked like the one that had called minutes earlier and it was either some insurance company, in which case they could enjoy being the newest addition to her blocked callers list, or something might be up at the hospital and someone was just using a different line. Pressing accept, the woman put the phone to her ear to see what the caller had to say.

There was no sound coming from the other side for a couple of seconds but she moved the phone away and almost shut off when a single word came over the receiver.

"Hello?" Lauren hesitated when the call connected and there was no greeting, but she had dialed the number for a reason and it was too late to change her mind now.

"Doctor Lewis?" The voice was a little off from when compared to how it normally sounded but a cell phone can do that to a person. Placing the phone against the side of her face, Bo was quick to voice her own confusion, perhaps faster than was normal for someone who had been looking to avoid talking to people.

"Doctor McCorrigan. I wasn't sure if I got your number right. I realize it is sort of early, and it is your day off, and you were probably asleep, but I wanted to call before I had to go to the hospital for a couple of hours." Lauren wanted to kick herself. She should have just left well enough alone, but she wanted to get to know the woman better away from the hospital. She had judged her without knowing her and maybe she could now do something to make up for that.

Bo thought the explanation seemed more out of place than the random Sunday morning phone call before ten am. It had to be work related but why something work related couldn't wait until at least she was at the hospital was answered when a sudden panic set in.

Last time she had seen the blonde had been Thursday night when they talked. Well the woman talked and Bo hit on her before giving out the very number Lauren had now used to get in touch with her. She remembered exactly how she carried her side of the conversation, not to mention the way she handed the paper to the other woman. There was no explaining away that she had made several suggestive comments at her boss.

This was the call telling her not to bother showing up for work tomorrow and that a restraining order would be in place. There wouldn't even be a helpful letter from Hale to make sure she could find another job. Actually the Chief of Medicine was probably putting together a list of people to alert that she had previously been accused of killing a patient, drug abuse, and recently sexually harassed a colleague. In short she would made out to be a crazy woman who could not be trusted under any circumstance.

"Doctor McCorrigan?" Lauren was still on the phone and somehow hanging up right then did not seem like a practical escape plan from making a fool of herself.

"Yes?" Bo waited for the hammer to drop. She might find a job on the other side of the country working in a clinic barely one step removed from a back alley, if she was lucky.

"I was wondering if you had any plans this afternoon, say around two?" A casual launch seemed like a good way to start getting to know each other and yet Lauren felt oddly nervous, especially when there wasn't an immediate reply.

She wouldn't have put past Hale to drag her into the office only to have security remove her but Bo had a hard time imagining Saint Lewis being that petty over some flirting by a coworker. "Why?" The annoyed tone even caught Bo by surprise but if this woman was going to drag out the day just to fire her in person she at least deserved to know it in advance.

"Oh…well I was wondering if you wanted to get some lunch. It would be my treat. I know the hospital doesn't exactly offer satisfying compensation for all the work you have put in after your shifts and plus I owe you for the other night. Though if you are busy, or something, I understand. It was just I am not going to be able to get free until after one and given how things at the hospital have been I doubt either of us will get have enough time off next week." Lauren took slight pause, not really long enough for the other woman to say anything but long enough for her to take a breath. "You probably have already plans though, and I shouldn't have called this early, so I'll just see you around the hospital."

Bo could not really think of a single thing she actually had to do. It was not that early to where it was unreasonable for someone to call. A couple of hours ago the phone call would have replaced her need for an alarm clock but she wasn't that lazy as to sleep in until noon after a couple other days off. Besides finding out she wasn't fired had a surprising way of adding news to the day that requires some celebration. She really didn't know the woman, but if Lauren was offering her a free meal instead of ending her career after that conversation the other night than she should change that. It would also be a good chance for her to prove that she could be friendly without giving off the impression that she was strictly doing it to better her odds of getting into the other woman's scrubs.

"Lauren?" There was no immediate response but when Bo took a quick look at the phone confirmed it was still tracking the seconds the two had talked for so no one had hung up.

"Yes Doctor McCorrigan?" Lauren felt her nerves start to shake and couldn't explain why.

"I'll see you around 2:30?"

"Ok."

"Ok." With that, Bo ended the call. Despite finishing a run not more than a few minutes ago she felt rather calm. Deciding to try that same route again next weekend and checking the time on her phone she had more than enough to continue her usual routine of taking the stairs to the roof than back down to her apartment. That wouldn't take more than few minutes really. Then she could get everything else done before meeting Lauren for lunch. The only real problem would be that she had no idea where they were going to have lunch, what they were going to eat or what they could possibly have to say to each other. "Shit!"

Taking a quick look at her reflection in the glass walls that separated the building from the street Bo took notice of how she looked for the first time in a while. It was not just looking good enough to pick up a random few hours of fun and turning some heads at the hospital; she needed to make the right impression today. If the impression she was looking for was sweaty, dehydrated and suddenly panicked workout clothes demonstrator than she was ready to go. The respectable doctor and friendly neighborhood lifesaver look though was going to take some effort to achieve. The other option was of course calling Lauren back to find out where they were going to lunch, or just canceling claiming she forgot something important.

One option made her sound like an idiot and the other a complete jerk. Not liking either of those two options she opted for the third; even if that meant dressing for an occasion she had no idea how to dress for and going in completely blind. Overall, there did seem like there was a lot of work ahead of her for a day that technically involved doing very little and then getting lunch with a coworker.

The clock in her car was showing 2:09, which meant that she had officially been sitting in her car for the past five minutes. It was a stupid thing, being nearly a half hour early just to find out where they where they were going to eat, yet waiting in a car out of fear someone else would agree with her did not seem a whole hell of a lot better. Reluctantly invoking the premise that there was no time like the present, Bo shut off the car and forced her legs to move her out of the vehicle.

Being in the hospital on a weekend had been a rare event since the transfer, even if it came with the price of Bo not getting the luxury of leaving the hospital much on the days before hand. Though she would have thought that after a few 80 hour weeks that she would know where the office for the head of the department was at.

Spotting a nurse near the front of the hospital that did not seem to be doing anything was a positive sign to start things off. "Hi, could you tell where I could find Doctor Lewis's office?"

"You are?" Nadia didn't look up from the folder at the intruder. Probably another sales rep the Chief of Medicine had dumped on Lauren as if the woman didn't have enough to deal with.

"Doctor McCorrigan." Bo got the instinct impression of being ignored, but the caramel skinned woman at least seemed to be doing her job so Bo tried to keep that mind.

"Doctor McCorrigan?" Nadia looked over at the visitor dressed too casually for a doctor before resuming filling in patient information. "I don't think you are not scheduled to work today nor are you on call."

"Very true, Doctor Lewis's office?" What the hell was this woman's problem? There wasn't a response for several seconds as the nurse simply glared at her.

"Why are you looking for Doctor Lewis?" She didn't trust the woman's sudden interest in Lauren.

"There was scheduling conflict for my shifts next week. Her office would be…" Bo wanted the strange conversation over with, but wandering around a hospital looking for an office didn't sound appealing either.

"It would probably be one on that says Doctor Lewis on the door." Nadia turned completely away from the intrusive woman, intent on sparring Lauren from having to deal with her.

About the time Bo was considering asking again, with a few choice words mixed into the question, a familiar voice got her attention instead.

"Bo?" Lauren had gotten use to surprises since Hale called her into his office to meet one Doctor McCorrigan, but seeing her talking to Nadia wasn't something she hadn't been ready for in the slightest.

Bo saw her companion for the afternoon walking towards her but the mountain of folders the blonde was carrying did not exactly raise her hopes that showing up early would be a welcomed surprise.

"Doctor Lewis. I was just trying to find out if you were in your office still." She gave her would be lunch companion a smile that would hopefully make up for the fact that she was sort of lying.

"I was just heading that way now." Lauren cast a last look between the two women before deciding it was best if she got them away from each.

Taking the hint the younger woman followed, ignoring the glares she was getting from the receptionist except for offering a salute with her middle finger to the annoying bitch. Bo did not fully understand why she felt the need to make a good impression on the ER doctor that had offered her lunch but she did.

As they entered the office, the brunette watched as Lauren attempted to flip on the overhead light before settling on the fact that dumping the paperwork on to her desk first would be a requirement. Noticing the distress and deciding something of a helpful hand would be proper Bo switched on the light. Observing as the office's usual resident went through the effort of putting each folder into one of two piles based on some system she didn't get. Whatever it was that required that Lauren bend slightly over the desk though Bo was not going to complain.

In fact the choice of the woman's office attire of black slacks, a dark brown fitted shirt, which Bo noticed had ridden up the small of the blonde's back, and short heels did not offer any reason to complain either. The outfit wasn't obscene, or even borderline scandalous, but it was one of a handful of times the two women had crossed paths where the department head wasn't dressed in scrubs. Not that it should matter if Lauren wore office clothing, or scrubs, or if she wondered around the hospital naked, because the brunette should not be staring at the remarkably fit woman for any reason. Her focus should have been entirely on just getting through lunch like it was a requirement for job security. It shouldn't matter if it was the 5'5, blonde haired, brown-eyed woman who had asked her to join her for a meal because at best they would be friends.

However, if they were friends, there was nothing saying that her eyes could not wander over Lauren's form from head to toe strictly out of curiosity for how Lauren looked right? As long as it was from a safe vantage angle it could not hurt to look to see exactly how the clothes fit.

No. Bo was going to look at Lauren strictly as a coworker and possibly as a friend but not as someone who could offer her a new workout routine. Besides whatever curios interest she had, she didn't even know if the blonde doctor was single.

"I hate to do this but I have to cancel lunch." Laruen had never felt regret for needing to put work ahead of something personal. She had canceled lunches before without any concern about the impression it would create. Today though she had made plans she truly wanted to keep, especially after it taking all morning to work up the nerve to make a simple phone call.

Bo suddenly found herself in reality again. It had been a rough trip as she felt a lurch in the pit of her stomach. As the woman turned around, but didn't truly face her, she felt bad that the blonde seemed so upset over what could be chalked up to a minimal problem at its worst.

"Someone messed up the expense reports. According to the budget committee the ER just ordered eight new bed sheets and 200 new office chairs along with some other minor inconsistencies that didn't make any sense. I tried to assure the committee that the numbers could be easily corrected in a few minutes during the session but they are insisting on a whole new report before Monday." Lauren figured that would be the end to whatever friendship they might have developed, but she couldn't let the ER shut down because of the mistake either.

"They are making you do all that by yourself?" That was definitely not what Bo had expected when she showed up. A bit of paperwork left undone, maybe, but having her afternoon completely turned around by some group of paper pushers being a pain in the ass didn't sit well. She couldn't believe that they were that obsessed with reports that they would kill the efficiency of the ER over them. No. That definitely was not going to happen. Not after the effort it took to find her favorite pair of dark grey jeans and a black top that wasn't a v-neck cut.

Shrugging her shoulders and hoping to make the best out of the situation Lauren managed her side of the conversation why preparing to spend the next several hours buried under months of reports. "It is either I do it or the ER goes without supplies."

Bo decided that if lunch meant doing expense reports and eating take out then so be it. "How do you feel about Tai food?" The brunette took out her phone and began scrolling through the list of names looking for a new restaurant that she had found.

"I have never had it but this thing with the committee shouldn't mean that you should get stuck here." Lauren smiled at the genuine consideration and she had to busy herself with a folder when the other doctor never wavered even when she protested.

Bo confirmed their orders and moved to get a closer look at the paper work after hanging up. Watching the woman make notes throughout the reports she quickly noticed a problem with her offer to help. "Your hand writing is awful, even for a doctor."

Lauren sat the first folder on her desk before grabbing a hold of a stack of loose papers that she had written on just days earlier. The comment ignored until she finished writing her sentence. "It is not. My writing is perfectly legible and I have never had a complaint about it."

"I am sure you haven't." Bo was certain there were a great many things no one had to the doctor before, but tried to keep her mind focused on the scribbled words and numbers.

"What is that supposed to mean?" The blonde placed her hands on her hips and stared at the internist, challenging her to explain the comment.

"You could easily win the world's nicest doctor award, and are a strong contender for the general human being category. That is not someone most people are going to tell that their writing is so jammed together that it is almost looks like serial killer wrote it." Honestly it did have a bit of 'murderer' vibe the way an entire paragraph took up no more space than a couple of lines and Bo wasn't certain the numbers were Arabic numerals or some alien language.

"Yeah, well, you hold your phone weird." As Lauren realized she had insulted the woman trying to help her, she immediately felt regret.

"Sorry, I didn't mean that." The word came out with a sort of hurt sigh that followed the woman taking a completely vulnerable stand. There was no sign of the defensive posturing that she held a moment ago.

For Bo she was still trying to process the remark as it's not everyday someone comes up with the world's strangest insult, but when she noticed Lauren looked as if she if it was some ruthless personal attack and Bo had to smile. "I think I can take a comment about the way I hold my phone Doctor Lewis. Though for a second I was sure my life was over." Her lighthearted attitude about the whole thing quickly drew the blonde's attention, which lead to the brunette seeing a look of annoyance in those brown eyes before something a bit more devious took over.

"Oh I am sure it was not the first time you had to face an angry woman after saying the wrong thing. Though compared to the usual experiences you have with women I suppose it makes sense you are able to move on so quickly." Lauren put herself inches from the other woman. It was time to turn things around.

That, Bo did not except and the sudden lack of personal space as her coworker got closer definitely added to that surprise.

"Lucky for you I have never been one to mix words with a wasted a drink on a bad date. That is where your good fortune ends though I am afraid as I promised to pay for lunch but I never said anything about buying you a drink." Lauren didn't move, waiting to see just how long it would take for the brunette to catch on to the situation she had put herself in.

The innocent, love everyone that walks into the ER with a screwdriver stuck in their head, doctor was without a doubt crossing a line. It might not have been the four-lane highway Bo had crossed but it was still something.

As the two stared at each other, both trying to react to what the other one would do before either one could do anything, there was a ringing sound in the background that added an annoyance to the room that hadn't previously been there. Neither pair of brown eyes moved from the other as seconds went by with the ringing continuing in the background.

Finally, Lauren looked away, with a small smile on her, creating space between the two in order for the blonde to answer the phone. It was the briefest of calls with the doctor just saying yes and thank you before hanging up.

"One of the nurse's needs some assistance. If the food arrives before I get back I'll bring it with me." And with that Lauren walked out the door without saying anything else. The scene was so familiar yet the setting and the one left were so different.

Realizing that she needed to move before Lauren returned with lunch Bo decided that going and getting a couple of drinks wouldn't really violate her own cardinal rule of seduction because she was strictly going stay friends with woman. At least it seemed like a good enough excuse to put her ego aside and go get something for Laure. Except she didn't know what the woman liked to drink. "Shit!"

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**Sorry for the delayed update on this. Last week I got to enjoy four days off in a row and this week I got to suffer having four days of work to catch up on. I do hope to update this again in the next 48 hours so keep an eye out. **


	4. Chapter 4

After a few agonizing minutes of standing in front of the vending machine, all spent trying to figure out which drink best suited Lauren, Bo finally settled on buying two bottles of water. It was the safest choice to make and that itself put another dent in her ego. Why she was not on the woman's Christmas list, they had spent a rather great deal of time near each other over the recent weeks. The ER was never overflowing with doctors vying over who got to treat the kid with the bloody noise whose parents fully believed the child was going to die. Yet, during her whole time at the hospital, she never really _got_ Lauren.

Most people around the hospital had their opinions as to what Lauren was like but they generally seemed to stick to what would it took thirty seconds to realize. The consensus was that Lauren was nice, dedicated and honest. All of which are fine qualities, they even gave the woman a rather attractive charm to her, but none of them revealed anything truthful. There was something else, beneath all the reassurances that distracted anyone from looking further, Bo was sure of that.

Opening the office door Bo walked in fully expecting the smell of Thai food, which instead was completely absent. The office was also missing its usual occupant. A good ten minutes had passed in her efforts to get them drinks and that should have been more than enough time for Lauren to walk to the lobby and back.

Though having a moment alone in the office would give her the chance to investigate the woman without having to ask obvious questions. Nothing would actually be touched, certain boundaries had to be respected amongst colleagues, but a look around couldn't hurt. There was just something enticing about being able to see whom Lauren was when work did not involve the rush of screaming patients to deal with.

Setting the water bottles on the desk, Bo glanced around the room. There really was not much to look at. A large wooden desk mostly took up the little floor space that existed in the office. A light brown upholstery couch took up most of one wall, which were mostly bare except for a large window centered behind the desk and a few framed diplomas. Last of the furniture was an office chair, which looked exactly like the very uncomfortable ones at the nurses' station, pushed into the empty gap within the desk.

There were no personal effects around the office. No picture frames, trinkets or even an out of place coffee mug full of pens and pencils. All that seemed to be around was what came with the office and what the woman needed to work. The only thing occupying the desk was the papers Bo had agreed to assist with. How anyone could accept, begrudgingly or not, the responsibility of correcting what had been three months' worth of work, and to it within 24 hours, was beyond her.

Before Bo could start over analyzing every sparse detail, the door handle clicked open and in walked Lauren, balancing two Styrofoam containers in one hand. Bo moved to close the door behind the blonde woman, thus allowing their lunch to reach the desk safely rather than ending up on the floor.

"I have no idea what you ordered." Lauren prided herself on understanding other cultures and engaging in them, but Tai food was one of the few unknowns and she now had to trust Bo had ordered something edible.

Bo took a second to take in the annoyed look on Lauren's face why the woman was staring down at the unopened containers. The confused tone in the woman's voice brought a smile to Bo's lips, which she quickly tried to hide. "It is called Pad Thai. The dish is a great one to start with if you're not familiar withThai food as it is not overly spicy, if done right."

"What do you mean_ if_ done right?" The wide-eyed look on Lauren's face was something Bo wanted to remember. Crazy people in the ER, demanding Committee members, and a mountain of paperwork did not even seem faze Lauren but spicy food apparently terrified the blonde.

"Sometimes they do not blend the peppers and the sauce properly, which can make it a bit _hot_." Bo empathized the last word right as she stopped in front of the blonde. She was in no hurry to leave the personal space either, slowly picking up a set of plastic utensils, reaching for the bottle furthest from her and only retreating to the couch after a final warning. "Just be careful and don't keep eating if you can't handle the spice."

"Right." Lauren, picked up the remaining counter, tentatively, and grabbed her bottle of water before moving to sit behind the desk. The food smelled normal enough but instinct took over as her fork started poking at the dish and moving some of it around, hoping to uncover anything hazardous before she ate it. Concerned that she might look like a completely helpless fool laid low by a pepper, Lauren missed the amused look on Bo's face as a pair of sharply focused eyes that watched her slightly panicked movements.

After the show was over, and Lauren seemed satisfied she wasn't trying to kill her with lunch, Bo sat down on the couch, using the arm of it that was closest to the desk as a miniature table. Based on the first few bites the food was exactly what anyone ordering Thai food from a takeout restaurant in the city would expect. It passed the safety inspection and didn't entirely taste like the container it came in.

Looking over at the blonde, just to make sure the food was okay, Bo noticed that there seemed to be more poking and less eating again. "Is it too spicy or just generally awful?"

Lauren shot her head straight up, having almost forgotten that someone else was in the room. She must have looked like one of the patients suffering from paranoid delusions by the weird look the woman was giving her. It took a few seconds before someone turned on the lights and she was able to offer a reassuring response.

"No, the food is great." Intent on proving that point Lauren took several large bites of her food faster than anyone should because they will end up choking. After a couple minutes of drinking water and slight coughing the room returned to silence as they ate and worked on correcting the budget.

Bo was lost in trying to decipher the strange symbols Lauren claimed were letters and eating her food when she glanced back over to the enigma in the room. Instead of finding the senior attending with her brown eyes lost in similar paperwork, the woman was just staring at an unopened folder. She made an effort to ignore but after a couple more minutes there was just no getting around it.

"Okay. Obviously, you liked the food well enough and this is your office, so it can't be the setting. That means either I have done something since showing up that upset you or you really just like torturing your food and trying to read through a paper cover. Which is it?" The words came out harsher than intended but not being able to understand someone was really quite infuriating and Bo wanted some sign she hadn't mistaken the woman's actions not an hour earlier.

Lauren sighed as she sat folder next to the closed up container on the desk as she moved to the couch. "Can I ask you something?"

Bo was not sure that exchange really took place. She pretty much took the woman's head off and all she got in return was a rather meek question. Though if the blonde was that distracted by whatever was on her mind it made sense to at least let the question be asked.

"Sure. I am an open book." Trying not lot the sudden, intimate, proximity get to her Bo leaned back against the armrest of the couch, regaining some the distance Lauren had removed. There were a number of questions that Bo would like to hear, and a number that she expected, but she rather doubted it would be anything shocking.

"Do you and any of your exes get along?" Lauren loathed gossip, or talking behind someone's back, but she had overhead the exchange between Bo and Nadia earlier and it had stuck with her as a consequence of her actions that had now unfairly impacted someone else.

That was not a question that Bo was expecting, wanting or really felt anyone was justified in asking. "Despite what the gossip mill might have to say about it I have not slept with half the nurses in the ER over the last couple months why my boyfriend was kept waiting across town so someone could keep my hair back when Saturday night returned to haunt me Sunday morning." The comment was delivered without an ounce of anger, though it wasn't missing any sarcasm. Her personal life was not some mess of problems people could offer her their deepest sympathies on, even if it was technically getting to the problematic mess stage.

"I didn't mean it like it, I was just wondering because I know relationships can be tough and you've mentioned leaving a bad break up behind that sounded pretty serious." Lauren definitely felt like backing away and hiding in a hole somewhere. They really did not know each other well enough to be discussing personal details like that.

"Dyson, my ex, and I do fine now days. Distance and not working together any more helps." Just moving to the other side of the city and a new hospital might not seem like much, but for Bo it was a fresh start. "It's not perfect of course, but we can be in the same room without it being an issue."

There was no vocal response from Lauren, just a slight nod before the overstepping doctor prepared to get back to work.

For Bo she was not going to let it be that easy. "Crazy girlfriend didn't like you changing the locks?"

By the sudden absent of any movement, except a slight dropping of the jaw, there was a definite chance that Bo was getting better at getting underneath the perfect skin of the perfect doctor. "I found it strange sometimes just staying over at someone else's apartment a couple nights a week for the few months I tried it. The thought of having that shared existence as a lead into a permanent situation, waiting there every night, seems like it could be rather overwhelming."

"Living together is not all that different from dating someone for a while; there are subtle differences but mostly it just a continuation of the relationship with the added bonus of carpooling." Lauren responded with a lack of enthusiasm on the topic, which even surprised her a bit. No one had really asked how things were going with Nadia before their breakup but she never figured that her response if they did would have been that lackluster.

"What stayed the same? The bad habits? Irritating friends? Mind blowing sex?"

"Bo!" The admonishment was said rather quietly as Lauren felt her cheeks turn a slight hue of pink why shifting her eyes to the door, half expecting a group of people rushing into her office and wanting details.

"What?" Bo did her best to look innocent about what question drew the blonde's attention. Fortunately, she had gotten better at denial than when she first started working for Hale.

"My sex life, Doctor McCorrigan, is not something I discuss with colleagues over expense reports and lunch."

"I simply asked about the lack of changes Doctor Lewis. You mentioned discussing that one specific aspect of the relationship. Though, as a doctor, I could not live with myself if I did not inform you that sexual frustration, if left untreated, can lead to serious health problems." Bo offered the advice as if the other woman was actually a patient, after all the only people to call her Doctor McCorrigan were patients and Hale. With Lauren it was different though, the precise pronunciation made it sort of hot.

Lauren found herself smiling as she once again found herself the target of smart-ass remarks from the brunette doctor. It was strange but she found being engaged in yet another odd conversation with the hospital's resident mystery woman a rather amusing highlight on her weekend.

"If you must know Doctor McCorrigan," Lauren noticed a slight shifting in the brunette that seemed out of place but ignored it as nothing more than the poor lumbar support from the couch starting to take its toll as she continued on. "All the bad habits seem to stay the same except the sex."

The department head could feel a weight come off her shoulders as she said those simple words. It was not really a big deal; but there still seemed to be a distance between her and Bo that Lauren had assumed would fade as the final boundary was crossed. She did not want to burden a colleague but the internal debate would have to settle for mental kicking her later for casually engaging with the woman to where she actually moved towards the couch without considering her actions. "I know there is nothing I can do about it, that I shouldn't be upset, but she blames me for everything falling apart and now she's started taking it out on other people."

Bo was nervously trying to press into the back of the couch even further as the woman seemed to learn towards, despite there being no chance of contact even at their current distance. "Like random doctors that show up to take you out for lunch?" Why the other woman suddenly wanted to talk about her personal life, had to sit closer in order to have that conversation, or made her jumpy in general, Bo could not understand.

"On my way to pick up the food I stopped by the front desk to let her know her behavior towards you was unprofessional and it would not happen again. It's been five months and I've tried everything to make it better, to allow us to be friends, but"

"Even when she seems to hate you, there is something beneath that, like she's not going to be happy unless you take the clingy bitch back." The interruption got a smile out of Lauren, whom to Bo suddenly thought mist just jump off the couch, or jump on her, to celebrate the obvious conclusion to her own thoughts.

"Exactly. I always made the gesture to try to put any possible time we could have together above anything else, but I wasn't going to quit my job." Not only was it her work that had kept their condo paid for, something that she rarely brought up as it always started a fight, but Lauren enjoyed what she did, even on days when it meant triple shifts.

"Well, in all fairness to your ex, you did cohabitate and that usually suggests you intend to get married at some point. Once that happens people change and they start expecting you to meet all of their expectations because they assume you are ready for that change as well." Bo had pegged the nurse as the crazy kind of people, adding that to having lived together and she was impressed Lauren hadn't filled a restraining order against the woman.

"Spent a lot of time studying the ancient ritual of marriage?" Lauren was definitely annoyed that the younger, probably only had one serious relationship from what she could tell, brunette would defend Nadia's behavior and criticize that she had not done enough to address it.

"Not marriage but being the only woman usually not taking her clothes off at bachelor parties has offered some interesting insights." The look that followed from Lauren had a strange little glint about it that Bo had not seen before.

That little comment had intrigued Lauren. Normally she did not hear more than a few words about the duckling's past and none of them from the source. "What exactly does _usually_ mean Doctor McCorrigan?"

"You can stop calling me Doctor McCorrigan at any time. My parents did actually give me a first name and it wasn't Doctor, or Bo technically, but Bo is just easier to pronounce." Bo was going to do her damndest to steer away from that slip up about a stupid mistake. It was not even something she had told Dyson, not fully anyways, and it was not anywhere near appropriate for a conversation over lunch with a colleague. A different topic, any topic, except that one, would be good right now.

"Okay, _Bo_, what is the story behind you only _usually_ keeping your clothes on at bachelor parties?" It did seem like a strange subject to be hung up on but a chance to learn something embarrassing about the brunette was an opportunity Lauren didn't want to pass up.

"It was just a stupid incident that happened during my residency." Bo did her best to focus on the report in her lap hoping Lauren, like everyone else, would eventually give up.

"Why so embarrassed? Did you not get any tips?"

"Why so interested in what it takes to get my clothes off?" Lauren asking annoying questions was something she could ignore easily enough. However, suggesting she could not part drunken idiots from their cash under any circumstance, let alone if she was trying to when she did not have any actual clothes on, was crossing a line Bo could not let stand.

"What?" The blush that swept up through Lauren's cheeks had to be borderline dangerous as it caused a sudden rise in temperature.

"It is a simple question _Lauren_. Why do you want to hear about me being half naked so badly?"

Lauren was going crimson by the time a stuttered response came out of her mouth. "I…uh…no I didn't mean…it was just…uh…you said it and I thought…well it just…"

Bo moved further down the couch, getting closer to the blonde as the incomplete rambling stopped in favor of Lauren just looking down at the floor.

"The next time you have a question you want to ask about my personal life, remember that we ended this conversation with you wanting details about me in an undressed state." There was that flash in those brown eyes as the blonde glanced over and despite, or perhaps because of, that look, Bo knew she had to end the game before something happened.

"Now, let us get back to work before we end up staying here all night." Quickly moving back to her abandoned seat, and paper work, Bo still smiled, despite her concerns, at the slow reaction of Lauren to do the same.

As the hours passed in relative silence, only the occasional few sentences over something work related, the two actually managed to finish the reports. Despite the questionable food, and unquestionably interesting conversation, by the late evening Bo definitely felt like going home. Her back hurt from sitting upright, her head pained from all the stupid numbers and she was certain she had developed asthma as every now as her chest would tighten. The last had to be the most aggravating of the problems as it seemed to come up right when Lauren would be asking her something, not the questions really, but just the sound of the woman's voice rattled her. Fortunately, it seemed to go unnoticed by her colleague.

By the time they reached the exterior side of the hospital entranceway, with the reports safely prepared for tomorrow, it had been over six hours since Bo had arrived. Of course given the time spent on waiting for lunch, talking about matters that had nothing to do with work and her having to decipher Lauren's hand writing it had not exactly been six hours of solid effort.

"Thank You for your help today. I did not think I would finish before tomorrow's deadline. Now, I can go home, get dinner and sleep in my own bed." The workload hadn't been split entirely even, but certainly the younger doctor had been of serious help and Lauren had to admit she regretted not entrusting the woman with more responsibilities.

"No worries Doctor Lewis." Bo wasn't sure where they stood with each other and on reflex had reverted back to a professional tone. There was something about the blonde though that triggered other instincts, baser instincts, and she had to control them, she couldn't afford to lose her job over another disastrous office romance.

"I thought we established Doctor wasn't a first name, Bo?" Lauren smiled as the brunette rolled her eyes, clearly not used to being on the receiving end of her own sarcasm. "I suppose I'll see you at work."

"Assuming the ER doesn't get shut down because of someone's shoddy record keeping." Satisfied with getting one last shot in against Lauren, who seemed to be able to verbally spare with the best of them, Bo glanced at the darkened parking lot trying to remember what space her car occupied.

"I'll ignore that last comment, instead of dragging you back in there to show you my dedicated filing system, because, thanks to you, I get to go take a nice hot bubble bath." Lauren wasn't sure where the trust between them came from, but she felt comfortable enough to hug the other woman before they parted ways. "My cab is probably waiting. Have a good night Bo."

Bo felt a sudden shiver run down her spine, which must have been from the complete lack of a breeze or the not sudden dropping temperatures, as those words rang in her head and a pair of arms wrapped around her for a second. It had to be the world's shortest hug, yet, by the time her eyes moved from the car door in the distance, Lauren was out of sight. There was something about a cab ride floating around in her head but the thought was lost to random words still trying to form sentences in reply. By the time she reached the car, Bo knew she would have to keep the roof down for the duration of the drive and there would be no risking a hot shower.

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**Well here we are. A Sunday update on Sunday, well in my timezone at least. Everyone doing the whole reading, follow, ****favorite** or review thing - you guys are awesome and I appreciate every hit to my stories! I'm **also **posting this in honor of the succes Doccubus is having in Zimbio's Couples March Madness poll. If you want more info about that just follow the link in my profile. 


	5. Chapter 5

Bo walked into the ER with a coffee in hand and a smile on her face. For the past week, she had felt surprisingly content and found that the days at work went by easier than before. She had even set her alarm for earlier than usual lately to make sure she had the extra time to do put up her hair, find an outfit she really liked and add some extra touches of makeup. Admittedly, it was an odd thing to do. Working in the ER she would see her patients for a few minutes each, at most, before passing them off to someone else.

Even the various idiots coming in with medical emergencies that exceeded what seemingly any intelligent creature would do to themselves seem to lessen. In fact her initial checking of patients found only a man needing bits of glass removed from his body after wife turned out to be the jealous type and why pulling shards from someone that stupid offered a certain reward she wanted something more significant.

Unfortunately, after ten minutes of searching, the sick and injured of weren't cooperating. A junkie that was three days out from their last fix seemed like the most demanding case that the ER had. As soon as she closed the folder on the junkie, Bo noticed a familiar presence standing next to her.

"A new patient just checked in and I thought you might want to take a look." Lauren held out the folder and her breath hitched as Bo's fingers brushed over her own. Since having lunch together, Lauren had noticed here had been something different about their interactions, and at least for her, it had the side effect of make breathing a more difficult task. It remained a mystery to her if Bo had any issue with their contact. Simply thinking about it was often more than she nerves could handle, but the thought of what either answer would mean to her life had occupied much of her thoughts over the last week.

Bo was far from immune to the recent developments, if anything she seemed to have absolutely no resistance to the sensation. The mere presence of Lauren within her personal space was enough to make her head spin and her mouth to go dry. Trying to focus on something else, like the file she had yet to open, seemed to be the only way she got through the day. By the looks of the patient notes, there was enough unexplained mystery to keep her busy for the rest of the day, which was good because the ER attending was looking particularly ravishing with her hair curled.

"See something interesting?" Lauren found herself smiling as she enjoyed the rare opportunity to study the younger doctor; noticing how the woman's eyebrows tightened, or how she would go back and forth between notes, as if trying to diagnosis the man's condition before she even got started.

"Very." Before eye contact could even be established Bo took in a deep breath why ignoring the part of her brain that was screaming at her to do the smart thing and avoid the woman for the rest of her existence. To her own surprise, Bo found Lauren already staring at her. Those bright brown eyes never flinched when she stared into them, pissing off every logical neural pathway she had in the process. She shouldn't be relishing the warmth from being this close to the other woman, she shouldn't be returning that kind smile and she definitely shouldn't be feeling her pulse quickening at the scent of the woman's perfume, but she was and it would have taken a freight train crashing through the hospital to get her to stop.

"Anything else I should know?" Bo found the words left her as if they were the first she had ever spoken. At least they would be talking though. If they talked it might remind her that the woman came over about a patient and not so she could take the small step into the blonde's personal space, wrap her arm around her waist and lock their lips together until hell froze over, at which time she be sure to keep Lauren warm.

Lauren just stood there, connected to Bo through some invisible tether in another dimension, dragged away from reality simply by the change in Bo's eyes. They were bright and relaxed when Lauren first saw them, but they sharpened over the eternity she had spent looking into them and there was a dangerous glint that wasn't helping her capacity to breathe. The question remained unanswered.

Taking a step to the side, putting herself closer to Bo's curvy frame, which looked amazing in a generously cut top and skinny jeans with the lab coat settling as if it was inviting her to step in so Bo could enclose them both in it, Lauren brushed her fingers over Bo's hand. There was a pleasant surprise when those brown eyes never lost their hold and as they brightened Lauren felt Bo's fingers reaching for her wrist to pull her forward when reality kicked in.

Bo heard the crash of something metal hitting the floor and actually jumped, which had the unfortunate side effect of physically separating her from Lauren.

"Well, umm, I better go make sure everything is okay. I am sure all the information is there in the chart, patient is over in bed six." Lauren went to do that thing she had said, or something that wasn't Bo anyways, and ignored the surprised look on the woman's face.

It wasn't exactly a freight train, but reality still hit home like a bitch. The hospital raced back into focus and the woman in pink scrubs was gone, leaving behind the quickest pair of sentences Bo had ever heard. It was stupid to be so caught up on someone she couldn't have, especially when it was a woman she was working for.

Putting her own awkward personal life aside Bo reviewed the chart for her patient quickly before finding the bed he was in and starting her day. Focusing on work and putting the rest to the back of her mind was the smart thing to do. Although, given where being a cautious 4/7 had gotten her grandfather, maybe being stupid once and awhile wouldn't be such a bad thing. Bo spared one last look towards the retreating blonde before heading towards bed six.

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**BUWAHAHAHA, pure doccubus tension! Okay so this is sort of a Part 1 of a 2 Part chapter. The second part will take place later on in the day and sets up a really big moment for our favorite LG ladies. **


	6. Chapter 6

Lauren found herself starting off the new month the same way she had ended the previous one, with her head on her a hard surface. Before the sheer exhaustion of endless days filled with patients eager to find new ways of harming themselves with mundane tasks finally overtook her. Skipping meals, not sleeping, ignoring any regulated exercise routine, it was bound to cause a problem eventually.

Tonight though it was more about enjoying a moment to herself. Despite the constant worrying that something was going to go wrong, like another budget fiasco, Lauren had found an enthusiasm at the end of each day to return for the next. Something had changed in the environment and it wasn't just fewer patients threatening to sue the doctors and fewer doctors threatening to quit either.

Still, being able to shut the door, put her head down and close her eyes for a while was not an opportunity she was going to pass up. As her phone made an obnoxious buzzing sound against the wooden desk the thought of shoving the noisy device into one of the drawers crossed her mind, only to fade as the sound no longer harassed her. Peaceful silence was a rare event in the ER and whatever the phone call was would only serve to disrupt that. For now, all that mattered was that nothing mattered. She had no patient that had ended up with a steel pipe shoved through their leg, or ignored the cough until blood start coming up, and even the papers that still covered her desk would only take a few minutes to file away. Her thoughts then turned to Bo and how close they were getting, literally at times like this morning.

In their time spent together over the recent weeks Lauren had gotten to know the brunette better but all of it felt like she had just skimmed the surface of an ocean. Humans, by their very nature, are complex creatures but Bo seemed genuinely more complicated than most and it was hard to deny a certain fascination with that complexity. Rarely had she met someone that seemed like they could move through a crowd of people without ever noticing anyone was around them at all yet there were few times when someone had shown her such kindness during just random moments in her life. Why firmly believing most people are good people they are not all that considerate except for that moment when they find out about her brother, when she lost a patient, after she saved a patient or if they want a favor. With Bo there did not seem to be anything of a motive, just a genuine interest to help.

Anytime she tried to offer thanks, and to make things even, the younger doctor gained the lead over her with another thoughtful gesture. Even buying lunch for them was a gift the younger doctor could not accept as by the time Lauren returned to work on Tuesday morning a mysterious benefactor had put the lunch total on her cafeteria account.

It was not that people had never bought her breakfast before, mostly they seemed to believe it would help them get time off, or a better shift, but they had never done it without being in the same room and letting her know first. There was a certain charm to the whole thing that made her smile; despite an odd disappointment that the brunette wasn't standing there, ready to take credit with some smart remark.

When a knock on her office door interrupted her thoughts on the recent events she could not even respond before the bright lights of the ER flooded her office. Lowering her head to the desk, hoping to block out the offensive attack on her senses, the door quickly closed again but it was too late to avoid the damage.

"Lauren?" The blonde had not moved her head off the desk, or said anything. Bo figured those smiling brown eyes would greet her as the woman poured over paper work but after she opened the door nothing happened and suddenly concern was not a strong enough word for what was coursing through her veins. After an ungodly wait, she finally saw Lauren lift up her head, though that did not make breathing any easier.

Fully intent to remind whomever it was that it was rude to enter without being welcomed Lauren instead found that upon seeing the familiar brunette hair, and unmistakable confidence, the only thing she really could have been happier to see was dinner and a glass of wine. She had expected to see more of Bo after their day together but they rarely seemed to spend time in the same place and passing each other in the hallways why running to help a patient did not seem like a great time to chat. It was nice to have a visitor seeing as Kenzi left in a hurry after being caught up in the chaos of a busy OR. Not that it made a real difference to her schedule. "Sorry. I was just resting for a few minutes why things were quiet."

"And yet you're at your desk, which implies intent to keep working, instead of lying on the couch, which would suggest your plans involve sleeping." As if to prove a point, the uninvited brunette walked over to the couch and collapsed on it. It wasn't the world's greatest couch, but Bo already had some fond memories of it.

"Yes. How foolish of me not to ignore my responsibilities when obviously the hospital put a couch in my office because they wanted patient files updated a month after a patient leaves us." Lauren had come to recognize that the younger doctor wasn't just a pretty face, but she was smart, kind to others, and very resourceful. Unfortunately none of those traits transferred to doing her own paperwork.

"I am sure no one is going to die if you do not confirm that they suffered a broken leg in the next twelve hours." Honestly it wasn't like she didn't chart down the important things so a nurse didn't accidentally kill one of her patients, but filling out paperwork that said everything worked out and no one had accidentally killed anyone just sounded stupid and Bo hated doing it.

"Kenzi, is that you? I would have sworn Doctor McCorrigan walked in here." Lauren hadn't made it a point to introduce the two women, partly because it seemed weird to present Bo to her best friend as if they were dating but mainly because there was only so much sarcasm she could tolerate.

"Laugh it up blondie but I am the one that is going to sleep on your couch why you are sitting in an uncomfortable office chair. If you're nice though I'll make room and we can share." Bo felt the world outside the office slipping away and the cushions supported her tired muscles. A pretty blonde to wrap her arms around though would top things off nicely.

"Go find a room in the clinic to sleep in like a normal ER doctor, or, better yet, go get coffee and find a patient to treat. It is a hospital so I am sure there is at least one sick person to keep you occupied until your shift is over." Honestly it was as if she had somehow managed to make friends with Kenzi's long-lost, older, stunningly beautiful, sister and Lauren wasn't sure where she would fit in if the two of them hit if off.

"My shift is over and I prefer your office to a clinic room." Well, technically she preferred Lauren's company compared to anything else the hospital had to offer, but Bo wasn't one to split hairs.

"Oh and why is that?" Lauren tried not to panic. Bo wasn't going to say anything ridiculous like she was in love with her. She was just being nice.

"Probably because Hale told me no one was to work past their shift tonight. Instead, we are all supposed to go home as scheduled. There was something about the second shift actually showing up on time and swapping clinics hours for help in the ER or something." Bo did notice that the other woman seemed more on edge than usual, but the warmth of the couch was distracting her.

"No. Why is my office better than a clinic room if you are just going to crash somewhere?" Lauren was still multitasking through the conversation, as the stack of files had get finished despite the obvious attempts to bring an end to the organizing. Bo's idea of multitasking on the other hand extended seemed involve talking and trying to get in the ideal spot on the couch.

Watching out of the corner of her eye the department head continued to try to figure out if Bo had a purpose for showing up when the words registered. "Wait. Hale is sending everyone home on time and you did not start our conversation with that fact?"

Bo did not give an immediate response but Lauren's serious tone, about what seemed to her like a minor issue, made her smile. "Well I meant to but I'm tired from walking over here and opening the door. Besides I am telling you now."

"Then you will be especially tired when you have to walk out of here since there is no way I am letting you sleep in office." It was not a matter of trust but compassion that made Lauren want to make sure the brunette would not be lingering around afterwards. The couch seemed comfortable for the first few hours but she knew from experience it would not be such a good idea by the morning. "And did he say this before, or after, the six car pileup resulted in minimal injuries?"

"It was a few minutes after. A nurse started walking towards his office at that point and he did not stick around to go over the details. I have never seen a man run that fast in a suit without being chased by the police for robbing a tailor." Bo had met the charming pharmaceutical heir in med school when he was rebelling against his family by actually going into the medical field. It still ranked as one of the most ridiculous things she had ever heard, but they got along and he didn't ask why she wanted to move and work at the hospital after things with Dyson fall apart.

Missing Bo's joke about their boss and ignoring the thought that going home early did not sound as appealing as curling up on the couch with Bo, Lauren mulled the two ideas over a few times. Neither seemed like the best solution for the ER, given what usually happened five minutes after everyone decided to take a break, though if the shift doctors were actually showing up than there was no real reason to stay.

"If you want to get something to eat I know a place that has the best pasta in the city, assuming you have never had pasta anywhere else in the city." Bo wasn't sure what she had just said, or why, but she could feel her heart stop as she waited for a response.

"As tempting as that is, I think I'll let you get home. I am going to call Kenzi and tell her if she stops hiding out in the longue playing video games why pretending to still be in surgery there is a meal in it for her. We haven't had a lot of time together and it seems a lot of that is because of my time in the ER." Looking over at the brunette Lauren relaxed upon seeing that same half a smile there that had been present since the woman walked in. Just the thought of disappointing Bo felt unsettling. She was hoping her tiny roommate might prove useful in helping her figure out just what she should do about her coworker.

"Sounds like a plan. We can find some other time to get dinner when cracked skulls from a couple having too much fun have not been preventing seeing the inside of your apartment. Don't let Kenzi get in the way of doing some headboard banging of your own either though." Bo smirked at Lauren as she got up to leave. The woman flustered so easily about sex that she had to take advantage of it. It's not as if she wasn't being sincere. Hell she was practically volunteering.

A completely red look spread throughout her cheeks as the increased blood brought the definite feeling that the room had gotten several degrees warmer suddenly. By the time she was recovering well enough to look at the brunette again all she saw was a door nearly shut. It seemed that even after embarrassing her, the mysterious woman was not beyond redeeming that with the considerate act of leaving her to her own personal affairs, but Lauren wasn't going to let her get away with it again. "How about the three of us go out to dinner next week? You and Kenzi could finally mock me at the same time and it would save me from having to repeat all the stupid jokes you make." The first time she had done was harmless enough, just venting to Kenzi about a challenging patient, but slowly something Bo had said, or done, seemed to be more and more relevant to her own day.

"Sure. Sounds fun." With that Bo closed the door. To anyone walking by she must look like a complete idiot. Between the stupid grin on her face and holding on to doorknob to the office for dear life, they might even her mistake her for someone who had skipped their medication that day. It was an odd feeling, having her offer declined by Lauren only to get something different in return. Not good, or bad, but different. Pulling her phone out with one hand Bo noted three missed calls before ignoring them all and looking at the most recently dialed numbers. At the top of the list was Lauren's number, the same number she had tried to call minutes earlier.

All Lauren had to do was answer her phone, than she could have continued to the exit without both ignoring Hale's request that Lauren get everyone, including herself, to clock out on time for once or feeling like a bitch for leaving Lauren working in her office without any idea she could go home. If it had just been a phone call than she would have never made the offer she wouldn't have a weird, maybe, sort of, with a third wheel, date thing.

Letting go with the doorknob and moving towards the exit seemed like a reasonable thing to do under the circumstances but she wasn't ready to call it quits. Fortunately her car was in the parking lot and that meant that within a few minutes she could be at a favorite watering hole, miles from the hospital. Tonight she was going to celebrate.

Lauren took her time to finish the papers and properly get the ER in order after Bo left. She had put aside her personal excitement during the tasks, but as soon as she dialed one on her speed dial and waited for the Kezni to pick up it came back. Still smiling to herself like an idiot, she did her best to sound normal at least when she heard a familiar fake accent come through.

* * *

**Apologies to everyone for missing the mid-week update on this. Hopefully the wait was bearable compared to the content. Unfortunately my job hit a high point of insanity and low point on paying me to put up with it just as I needed to deal with a death in the family (not immediate, but still difficult) and of course voting for doccubus in the Zimbio poll! I'll try to sneak in an extra update next week and Sunday will be your regularly scheduled chapter.**


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